While a bill that would add electric car charging stations to campus was put on the table, the ASUU Assembly unanimously passed a bill allocating thousands of dollars from student fees to a fraternity and other campus groups on Tuesday night.
The car charger bill was pushed back a month in order to resolve conflicts among some elected officials in the Senate and the Assembly. One of the authors of the bill, Rep. Mark Pittman from the College of Law, expressed his displeasure on the bill being tabled.
“We were all elected based on the promises we made. One of those promises was to work for a sustainable campus and to lead that initiative,” Pittman said. “If we can’t pass this bill, do the job we get paid to do, we should be kicked out of office.”
Pi Kappa Alpha, a fraternity, had four funding bills passed unanimously by the Assembly, totaling $2,395.15. All four bills were presented by Rep. Tanner Olson from University College. Olson is also the president of Pi Kappa Alpha, according to the fraternity’s page on the U’s Greek Council website.
The first of the four separate bills was to fund a trip to Pike University for a leadership conference. The bill amounted to $750 to fund 50 percent of the airfare and 50 percent of the cost for boarding.
The second bill for the fraternity was only $126 to fund the room rental for their Dream Girl competition, in which women from U sororities compete for the title.
The third bill was the most expensive, totaling $1,000 to fund apparel and supplies for the fraternity.
The fourth and final bill was to help cover the cost of the game ball run that the fraternity participated in before the BYU-Utah game in Provo. The funding from this bill helped cover the cost of the U-haul rental, gas and their police escort.
The Assembly passed a joint bill to help fund Geek Week, the week before and the week of finals, for $3,700. Geek Week is meant to help ease student stress during one of the most stressful times of the semester. Yoga sessions, school supplies and food will be supplied to students during the week with the funding. If the bill passes through the Senate Thursday night, then the funding will be finalized.
“I’m excited for Geek Week to be a success,” said Rachel Wootton, director of the Academic Affairs board. “It is very important that students have access to these resources during finals to help them succeed in their classes.”
Funding for Alternative Spring Breaks was also passed at the Assembly. Similar to the Alternative Fall Breaks bill that passed through ASUU earlier this semester, the Alternative Spring Breaks bill will help give students funding for community service in various locations in the western half of the country. The bill passed the Assembly for $4,970.
The Pacific Islander Student Association also received more than $2,400 to fund their Pacific Islander High School Conference on Nov. 21. PISA will help potential students understand how to get financial aid for their education and promote higher education among minority groups.
Tau Sigma, an honor society geared toward transfer students with a GPA of 3.5, also received a small amount of funding in order to hold their introduction ceremony on Nov. 18. They received less than $1,000 of funding in order to hold the ceremony and provide food for those invited to attend.